NASA just released close-up photos of last year's Antares rocket explosion, and they're eerily beautiful.

On October 28, 2014, the Aerospace manufacturer company Orbital ATK was scheduled to transport 5,000 pounds of cargo inside an unmanned Cygnus spacecraft to the International Space Station.

Cygnus was strapped to an Antares rocket that exploded seconds after lift-off from a launch pad in Virginia.

Photographer Joel Kowsky caught the whole thing on camera, snapping some incredible photos that NASA recently released on Flickr. Check them out below. They're a reminder of just how dangerous space can be.

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The rocket was initially supposed to launch October 27, when this photo was taken, but was postponed because a boat was floating too close off shore.